The Future Of Australian Unionism In The Global Economy Introduction

The Future Of Australian Unionism In The Global Economy1. IntroductionAt the Harvard Trade Union Program of 1999, Emeritus Professor John T.Dunlop asked the class of mid-career union leaders to paint a picture of where their union would be in the year 2025. This was based on a similar event in 1955, when the editor of Fortune magazine asked the long-serving AFL-CIO President, George Meany, where the American labor movement would be in 1980 (see Dunlop, 1980). The Meany interview attracted interest because of its optimism and confidence regarding the future of American labor. Given the actual events that have occurred since 1955, with the drastic decline of trade union membership in industrialized countries, not too many optimistic scenarios are being posed in 1999. No one seems to want to emulate Meany’s ill-fated forecast of 1955.
This article is written in the context of a fast changing global economy and an overall sea of pessimism about the future role of unions in the Australian economy and society. This article does not intend to be yet another depressing account nor a desperate exercise in wishful thinking for the sake of it. Instead, this essay takes on a few issues in the debate about the future of unionism and tries to make sense of them in terms of the strategic choices that Australian trade unions can make in planning for the future. 1This article is in four parts. First, some data on union decline is presented. Second, some reasons for the trend in the data are discussed. Third, the comparative advantages of Australian unionism are identified to highlight our relative strengths. Finally, some basic suggestions are put forward for guiding future policy for Australian trade unions.

2. The Facts: The Decline Of Australian Union MembershipUnions have played an important role in Australian society in terms of raising living standards for workers and advancing social justice issues. Shorter working hours, equal pay for women, improved health and safety, holiday time, superannuation, and vocational training and other facets of Australian working life are due to enduring and forceful union campaigns. Yet despite these real life successes, the prognosis for the Australian union movement does not look good on the basis of the statistics alone.
Looking at the data, Australian union membership, at the end of the twentieth century, has started to fall in terms of absolute numbers and as a proportion of the labour force.

Chart 1: Trade Union Members: 1891-1996

Chart 1 shows the trade union member series, which grows throughout most of the twentieth century despite falls in the Great Depression and in 1937. Since 1990, membership has been falling rapidly.

Chart 2: Trade Union Density: 1911-96 (Source: Labour Reports and ABS Cat.6323.0)Chart 2 shows trade union 'density' - the number of union members as a percentage of total employees. The density rate rises strongly in the first half of the century, falls at the beginning of the 1920s and at the start of the Great Depression, and recovers during World War II. Density rates are then at historical highs in the immediate post-war years during an unprecedented period of full employment from World War II to the early 1970s. In the 1990s, union density has fallen steadily.

Chart 3 shows ACTU affiliation data since 1955. For the time period shown, the ACTU share of total Australian trade union membership has grown steadily. This indicates the ACTU's strength as a peak council in terms of coverage of Australian unions.

It should be noted that the data used in charts 1 to 3 are from ABS Cat.6323.0 ' 'Trade Union Statistics'series which is based on a survey of union officials and includes financial and non-financial members. This series was discontinued by the ABS in 1997. The remaining series is ABS Cat.6325.0 'Trade Union Members' which is based on a survey of employees and excludes non-financial members. Some key trends from the 6325.0 series for the 1990s are shown in Tables 1 and 2 below:
Table 1: Trade Union Members: 1990-98

Year

Members

[million]

Union Density

[%]

1990

2.66

40.5

1997

2.11

30.3

1998

2.04

28.1

Table 1 shows a decline in union membership from 2.66 million in 1990 (or 40.5 % of the workforce) to 2.04 million in 1998 (or 28.1 %).

UNION DENSITY BY

Gender

Sector

Employment Status

Year

Males

Females

Public

Private

Casual

Permanent

1998

30.0

25.8

52.9

21.4

11.6

34.2

Source: ABS Cat. 6325.0 and 6310.0

Table 2 shows a reduction in union density from 1990 to 1998 in terms of gender, sector and employment status.
The decline of Australian union membership should be placed in an international context2 Table 3 and the accompanying chart below compares Australian union data with selected industrialized countries using ILO sources.

International Trends in Union Membership: 1985-95

1985

1995

85-95

UK

45

33

-12

USA

18

15

-3

Note: Australia's data is 1986-95 and Spain's is 1985-94

Source: ILO

Other industrialized countries have indeed experienced Australia’s decline in union membership. In fact for the 1985 to 1995 period Australia experienced the largest decline in union density of all surveyed countries except New Zealand. Australian density declined by 13 percentage points compared to New Zealand's 22 %. This occurred despite the fact that Thatcher, Reagan and Bush were in power in the UK and USA, whilst Australia, had a Labor Government.

The data on trade union membership is also supported by evidence in the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS) of 1990 and 1995 of the reduced visibility of unions in Australian workplaces (see Callus,1990 et al, and Morehead,1995 et al)
For example Morehead et al, write in the 1995 survey:
“The AWIRS data confirm the decline of union membership in the first half of the 1990s. The proportion of unionized workplaces fell from 80 to 74 per cent. Most of this decline was in workplaces with 20 to 49 employees and was exclusively in the private sector.”Morehead, et al (1995):158The AWIRS survey evidence concurs with the ABS data on declining union membership.
3. Reasons For The Decline Of Australian UnionismOne of the best contributions on the reasons for union decline is provided by David Peetz (see Peetz, 1998). Peetz describes three main factors as causing the decline in Australian union density: structural change in the labour market, institutional factors, and the union response to new employer strategies (Peetz, 1998: 175).
Structural Change in the labour market includes casualization, the growth of part time work, the growth of industries and occupations where union density is traditionally low, the growth of self-employment and alternative employment arrangements. Peetz says this explains approximately half of the decline of union density in the decade to 1992 but not a high proportion since.
Institutional factors .include legislative changes that have had an adverse impact on union membership. This includes the de-collectivization of the employment relationship and the withdrawal of union recognition. An important reason is the decline in compulsory unionism. This illustrates the dangers of unions being overly dependent on legislative provisions. For instance, New Zealand unions were very dependent on legislation and compulsory union provisions, which made them vulnerable to radical legislative change.
New Employer Strategies and the failure of unions to respond is the final reason explaining the decline in union membership. Until recently, this has been an overlooked reason for changes in union density in Australia. Traditionally, industrial relations scholars have concentrated on unions as institutions when comparing across countries. This focus, however, ignores employer attitudes and strategies toward unions. Australian union density, for instance, may not be over twice the US density rate because Australian unions are twice as effective, it may be because American employers are more ruthless and aggressively anti-union than their Australian management. According to Peetz, there has been some American style anti-union trends in Australian employer behavior in the 1990s. Peetz believes that unions have been unable to counter this new Australian employer attitude and have made poor strategic choices. For instance, Peetz says the concentration of Australian unions on 'market share' rather than 'expansionary' unionism is an example of poor union strategy especially given the waste of resources when unions fight expensive coverage disputes (see Peetz,1998: 177).
Importantly, Peetz addresses a number of 'red herrings' in the debate that have been proposed as reasons for the decline of Australian union density. A classic example is the Prices and Incomes Accord (the 'Accord') between the ACTU and the Hawke-Keating Labor Government from 1983 to 1996. The Accord has been blamed in some circles for causing union inertia and decline (for example, see Stillwell (1986)). However, Peetz finds that the Accord "... bought a small amount of time..." for the union movement during Labor's term of government to prepare itself for the onslaught when the conservatives eventually came to power (Peetz , 1998:177).
The Peetz analysis is also borne out in various surveys of what Australian think about unions. An example is the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Teaching (ACIRRT) survey commissioned by the Labor Council of NSW ( see Labor Council of NSW, 1997) The survey found no reduction in sympathy toward unions but did identify disenchantment with union service particularly amongst union members.
The lesson to be drawn from both the Peetz analysis and the Labor Council survey is that there has not been a reduction in overall public sympathy for unions in recent years (in fact there has been a small increase in sympathy in the 1990s. However, there has been a reduction in worker’s confidence in the union movement's capacity to service members. In short, the results reflect not a reduction in union sympathy but a reduction in confidence in the union capacity to deliver service by both unionists and non-unionists alike. This suggests that union revival is based on improving union infrastructure and strategic management.
In conclusion, there have been structural and institutional changes that have occurred that have had an adverse effect on union membership. Some of these factors are 'exogenous' or 'external' to the union movement. There has also been evidence of a change in government and employer attitudes and strategies toward unions . However there are also 'endogenous' factors that unions do have a say in shaping as they face the future. These 'endogenous' or 'internal' factors include union structure, union governance, resources, human resource policies and similar factors that are part of union strategic choice. From the Peetz evidence, it is clear that there is some scope for the union movement to make strategic choices in changing its internal infrastructure in order to deal with the external environment.
4. Reasons To Be Cheerful... The Comparative Advantage Of The Australian Labour Movement.As an antidote to the previous section on union decline, it is important to remember some of the comparative advantages that the Australian labour movement possesses over its counterparts in addressing its problems. If we understand some positive elements of our history it can assist us preparing for our future in the face of difficult obstacles. Five key comparative advantages are listed below.
First, in assessing the economic and political change of the past two decades, the Australian labour movement has fared reasonably well. For all the criticisms put, the Hawke-Keating Labor Government was a reasonably successful and socially progressive government for an era that was economically and electorally conservative (see Grattan, M and Gruen, F, 1993). In industrialized countries, economic policy was drifting to the right under Thatcher in Britain, Reagan and Bush in the USA and Kohl in Germany. Financial markets were increasing their influence as was the rest of the private sector. The electoral tide was against the centre-left. In this context, Hawke and Keating were able to provide important social and economic benefits to the labour movement. Examples include universal health coverage 'medicare', superannuation, childcare, targetted social payments, education and training and an overall supportive legislative framework.
Second, the Australian union movement has been able to play both an economic and social role. All union movements, to be successful, must combine economic power or 'clout' with a strong social conscience. Strong unions in key sectors of the Australian economy have been able to maintain their bargaining strength and deliver significant gains to their members through enterprise bargaining. For example, ACTU research shows a union to non-union wage differential or mark-up of 14.5 % (or $82 per week) on average for every union member in Australia including significant mark-ups for women, part-timers and casuals (see ACTU,1998).
At the same time, Australian unions have been able to contribute to the betterment of society through arbitrated test cases that flow on union won gains to the rest of the labour force. Examples include the 'Living wage' case, pay equity, and family leave (see Harcourt, 1997). Australian unions have been able to socialize the gains made in bargaining through arbitration and legislation. There is no 'social unionism' versus 'business unionism' debate as occurs in North America as Australian unions have successfully combined traditional industrial muscle with a social conscience.
Third, as reflected in the data (Chart 3, Section 2) of this article, the ACTU has been able to consolidate itself as the peak council of the labour movement. The ACTU is still considered part of Australia's political and economic structure and a key institution in Australian civil society.
Fourth, Australian unions still have the inheritance of the institutions of conciliation and arbitration. The industrial relations (IR) system, despite its critics on both left and right, has been shown to be durable and flexible in times of economic and social change in Australia. It has been able to deliver important socially progressive benefits like equal pay and minimum wages but incorporates economic criteria to ensure that its judgements are conducive to macroeconomic performance and a successfully functioning labour market. (see Isaac,1993).
Furthermore, in the context of an ever-integrating global economy labour market institutions will become more necessary for economic and social distribution reasons not less. As evidenced by, Rodrik (1997) and Garret and Lange (1995) countries that are more open to international trade and investment tend to have stronger rather than weaker social institutions including labour market protection. In this regard, Australia is fortunate to have well developed labour market institutions. The globalization era, with its uneven effects on skilled and unskilled workers, will increase the reliance Australia places on its labour market institutions for economic efficiency and social cohesion (see Isaac, 1998: 714).
Fifth, international events have assisted the Australian union movement's capacity for renewal. An example is the end of the cold war, which in effect, has put the monkey off the back of the union movement. In the post cold war era, it is possible to be concerned about workers and inequality without being labeled a communist or traitor to society. Similarly, it has allowed those in the moderate wing of the labour movement to say that the market economy is the only game in town and change can only be brought about by parliamentary democracy. The early Australian Labor reformists have been vindicated by the events of the century with the important defeats of Fascism, Communism and MacCarthyism3.
Unfortunately, as noted by Latham (1998) the 'globalization' debate has revived some old left ideas in new clothing. He writes;
"...For 200 years, parts of the left have tried to modify or replace capitalist markets with a new system of production, distribution and exchange. For 200 years this project failed. It is likely, however, that economic globalization will be used as an alibi for one last try."
Latham (1998:389)
The real message of the globalization debate is that there is a role for worker-friendly institutions in a market economy. Building these institutions is the important task for trade unions rather than reverting to discredited notions of the need to 'confront capital'. Fortunately, Australian labor has a reformist tradition to build on together with an open pluralist democracy, a major political party with union roots, a union movement with economic power and a social conscience and well developed labour market institutions.
5. Options For The Future.It is near impossible to predict the future but you can prepare various scenarios that may come you way. As in corporate strategy, Australian trade unions need to prepare for their future in the global economy. In the final part of this article, I make some brief suggestions that will assist Australian unions in preparing for the future4.
First, it is important to take stock of economic and demographic changes in both Australia and the global economy. We need to know what jobs will be created in the future and which ones will go, how technology will change production and distribution, how consumer tastes will change and so on. For instance, Australian Bureau of Statistics population predictions (1997-2051), suggest the strong growth of the ‘sunbelt states’ of NSW, Queensland and WA (and the Northern Territory) followed by stability in Victoria but steady decline in SA and Tasmania (see Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1998: 1-3). Included in these predictions are the growth of sunrise industries, including environmental and solar technology, biomedical technology, and knowledge based industries. Unions need to prepare for these changes by using strategic planning to ensure an efficient use of resources.
Second, it is important to take note of the decline of ideology. Ruthven has written:
“The Industrial Age contest between capitalism and socialism is nearly over. Both lost. The new order is economic rationalism to be opposed in the 21 century by humanism. Rationalism in this sense, follows the dictionary definition: that which actually works;logical;sensible; moderate. The real message is that soap-box ideologies and wild-eyed fanatics have (temporarily) had their day.”- Ruthven, 1996 in Labor Council (1996).
There is no point in talking about the perils of capitalism now that the cold war is over. Unions instead should be focussing on existing problems in the labour market such as job insecurity, excessive working hours, wage inequality and formulating appropriate industrial strategies. The move by the union movement to focus on working time and job security is a step in the right direction in this regard.
Third, it is important to understand changes in globalization and how nations relate to each other politically through trade and investment. There is no point in retreating into economic nationalism and trade protective strategies. Instead unions should play a role in changing economic institutions and providing labor market protection to those adversely affected by changes in the international economy. Trade unions can also make sure that trade liberalization advocates are held accountable by monitoring their claims on jobs created and the effect of trade on wages.. This is a key role for trade unions to play. There is a labor movement alternative to policies of both the Pauline Hanson and extreme free market variety.
Fourth, it is important to look at the future of trade unionism as a profession and the role of human resource systems in trade unions themselves. (see Weil, 1997:191)

Unions have untapped human resources in terms of their rank and file membership. Education and training of delegates greatly assists in this process. Educational opportunity has historically been provided by the trade union movement (through labor colleges, worker’s libraries etc..) This will be an important function of unions in the future, especially as Australia will depend on having a better educated workforce with the rise of knowledge-based industries.

In recruiting future staff from outside the rank and file, unions should have regard to the effects of labour market deregulation on the decline in living standards of ‘social justice’ professionals. There are a number of social justice ‘causes’ that attract young idealistic well-educated people. Unions are competing with a number of progressive organizations that promote these ‘causes’ such as environmental and community groups. It is important that unions attract these people from amongst the alternatives on offer by providing them with a career and ‘manageable’ lifestyle. It is important to have committed people working for unions but not martyrs or fanatics. Unions should treat these employees well, provide adequate pay, benefits, career progression and reasonable working hours. There is no point burning people out and ruining their health and personal lives. On the contrary, the union movement traditionally has enabled its leaders and activists to expand their life horizons. This was especially so in the past when educational opportunity was limited for much of the Australian workforce. Many biographies of traditional union leaders show how the movement has been a vehicle for education, economic opportunity, arts and culture, and exposure to international events and travel.5Similarly, unions need to be in touch with technological developments and the rise of younger, technologically literate workers who have combined entrepreneurial talent with socially progressive attitudes. If unions cannot relate to this generation of workers they risk locking themselves out of the mainstream workforce of the twenty-first century.66. Conclusion.In conclusion, unions in Australia, despite recent difficulties, have an important inheritance to draw on. Australia is an economically advanced society, it has stable political institutions, a commitment to democracy, and a relatively egalitarian culture (in ethos if not always outcomes). Australian workers have made that inheritance and through their unions have passed on that inheritance to the rest of Australian society. The Australian union movement has acted as a social movement as well as an economic one. Was the equal pay case for Aboriginal stockmen in the Northern Territory run by the North Australian Workers Union on a fee-for-service basis ? No, it was argued on the important social principle of equal pay for equal work, and as a result led to the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal citizenship. The union movement played an important social role (see ACTU, 1993).
Australian unions must draw upon this rich inheritance as an agent of social change and must combine it with strategic planning and the continuing reform of union infrastructure. This will to enable unions to play a progressive social and economic role in Australia in the twenty-first century.
References:Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (1998) Population projections:1997 to 2051 (ABS Cat. 3222.0), ABS, Canberra.
ABS Various Publications on trade unions, industrial relations and the labour market (including 6323.0, 6325.0, and 6203.0), ABS, Canberra.
Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Teaching (ACIRRT) (1998) Australia at Work, Prentice Hall, Sydney.
ACIRRT (1998) Agreements Database and Monitor (ADAM) Reports, various.
ACTU (1993) Partners for Justice ACTU D No.151 / 1993, ACTU, Melbourne.
ACTU (1997) A Note On Australian Trade Union Membership Data And ACTU Affiliation, ACTU D No. 62 / 1997, ACTU, Melbourne.
ACTU (1998) The Benefits of Belonging: A Comparison of Union and Non-Union Wages and Benefits – No.4 ACTU D No. 77 / 1998, ACTU, Melbourne.
Blanchflower, D and Freeman, R (1992) “Unionism in the United States and Other Advanced OECD Economies” in Bognanno, M and Kleiner, M (ed) (1992) Labor Market Institutions and the Future Role of Unions. Basil Blackwell, Cambridge MA.
Callus,R Morehead, A, Cully, M and Buchanan, J (1991) Industrial relations at Work: The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, AGPS, Canberra.
Dunlop, John T. (1990) The Management Of Labor Unions: Decision Making With Historical Constraints BookTech, Winchester, MA.
Easson, M (1990) “What it means to be Labor “ in Easson, M(ed) (1990) The Foundation of Labor. Labor Council of NSW, the Lloyd Ross forum and Pluto Press, Sydney.
Garrett, G and P Lange (1995) “Internationalization, institutions and political change.” In International Organization, 49, 4 Autumn, pp.627-55
Grattan, M and Gruen, F (1993) Managing Government: Labor’s Achievements and Failures Longman Cheshire, Melbourne.
Harcourt, T (1997) “The Economics of the Living Wage” Australian Economic Review, Vol 30, No 2, pp 194-203, June.
Isaac, J.E. (1993) “How Important is Industrial Relations Reform to Economic Performance?” in M.Bryce, (ed) Industrial relations Policy under the Microscope, ACIRRT Working Paper, No.40, April, Sydney.
Isaac, J. E. (1998) “Australian Labour Market Issues: An Historical Perspective” Journal of Industrial Relations, December, Vol 40 Number 4.
Labor Council of New South Wales (1996) IR News, Winter 1996, Labor Council of NSW, Sydney
Labor Council of New South Wales (1997) Labor Council Industrial Relations Surveys, Various, ACIRRT analysis, Labor Council of New South Wales, Sydney.
Latham, M (1998) “Economic Policy And The Third Way “ in The Australian Economic Review vol 31, no 4 , pp 384-98
Morehead, A, Steele, M, Alexander, M Stephen, K and Duffin, L (1997) Changes at Work: The 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey Addison Wesley Longman, South Melbourne.
Peetz, D (1998) Unions in a Contrary World, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K..
Rodrik, D (1997) Has Globalization Gone Too Far ? Institute for International Economics, Washington, D.C.
Ruthven, P (1996) “Changing Economy – Changing Workforce” in IR News, Winter 1996, Labor Council of NSW, Sydney
Schwartz, P (1991) The Art of the Long View Doubleday, New York.
Stillwell, F (1986) The Accord and Beyond, Pluto Press, Sydney.
Weil, D (1997) Turning the Tide: Strategic Planning for Labor Unions Book Tech Inc. Winchester, MA.